Has everyone gone this round? If possible, I want to use Deception when Able hits me using the HELP action to make it seem like I really am trying to attack him with my mace. But to sell it, I want Able to believe it, too.

"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

I was hoping either to give the druid time to do whatever it is he is going to do to save himself, THEN the fight can start. Failing that, maybe the Communists will try to intervene, further distracting them from Eryndir and Charn's movement.

If Able is going to slap Caleb, he thought it would be a good idea to strike back, but miss on purpose. But that means making it look like I really tried to hit him, so I figured Deception was the best option.

"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

Please note that this is the FIRST slap. I didn't try a SECOND slap. It appeared your action was predicated on me repeating the action. When I initially declared it, I had already acted in the current round. I just confirmed that I still intended to do my originally stated action.

I mean, it seems to me like getting slapped while trying to intimidate someone would put you at disadvantage. Intimidation will be hard either way.

If Able went to slap you, and you clubbed him into unconsciousness, I would give advantage for that.

I'm a huge fan of collaboration in the story telling though, and I don't view it as metagaming if folks want to discuss what approach makes for the best story then just have the characters do that thing.

OK, we can go with that. Able strikes Caleb, Caleb feigns submission using the help action, and then at the top of Round 3 Able makes the Intimidate check. Only one of us gets to roll no matter what happens because after the check, the challenge will either be passed or failed.

"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

Alright - ranged attacks and spellcasting when you're threatened doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity like it does in other editions. It does, however, force you to roll at disadvantage. Give me a second d20 roll.

Able does have a modifier - he gets to add his Proficiency Bonus and his CHA mod to those rolls. Even with disadvantage, he is able to score a shot on Marx, so he deals his damage - his 5 damage matches the 5 damage dealt to Caleb.

This is a great time to talk about attacks of opportunity. Attacks of opportunity only occur for voluntary movement - so someone being moved not of their own volition will not provoke. Also, you only provoke when you're in a threatened square and move into a square that is not threatened by that same person. That means you should feel free to move around folks if nobody else threatens you.

Oh, awesome. So Caleb tries to move around the zombie but gets swept downstream a little further than he intended; but because he didn't mean to, there's no AoO. AND I'm not being threatened by anyone at the end of my turn!

"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken